Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail

Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail (HM1R9C)

Location: Borger, TX 79007 Hutchinson County
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Country: United States of America
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N 35° 39.263', W 101° 24.321'

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Inscription
Josiah Gregg (1806-50) blazed the Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail in 1840 as a shorter route between the U.S. and New Mexico. He crossed this site on March 17, 1840, while returning to Arkansas from a trading expedition to Santa Fe and Chihuahua. In a book, "Commerce of the Prairies", published in 1844, Gregg recommended the new route, which paralleled the Canadian River. Over 2,000 California-bound gold seekers traveled it in 1849. The largest wagon train of that year was accompanied by U.S. Army troops commanded by Captain Randolph B. Marcy (1812-87), who made a survey of the trail for a proposed national wagon road. Marcy's party crossed this site on June 9, 1849.
The extensive use of the Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail in the early 1850s caused it to be considered as a favorable route for a transcontinental railroad. Lt. A. W. Whipple of the Army Corps of Engineer surveyed a possible route in the summer of 1853. By the late 1850s, emigrants were traveling a more southern road through El Paso, which was eventually to become the southern railroad route, and the Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail fell into disuse and was finally abandoned.>br>
In many places on the Plains, the wagon ruts are still visible in the undisturbed prairie sod.
Details
HM NumberHM1R9C
Marker Number2017
Year Placed1974
Placed ByTexas Historical Commission
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, March 27th, 2016 at 9:02am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)14S E 282248 N 3948280
Decimal Degrees35.65438333, -101.40535000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 35° 39.263', W 101° 24.321'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds35° 39' 15.78" N, 101° 24' 19.26" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)806
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling South
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Marcy Trail, Borger TX 79007, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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